Ye-1/3
| Launch Date | December 4, 1958 | 18:18:44 UT |
| Launch Site | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Russia | Launch Complex 5 |
| Destination | Earth's Moon |
| Type | Impact |
| Status | Unsuccessful |
| Nation | Soviet Union |
| Alternate Names | Unnamed Luna |
Goals
Another Soviet attempt to crash a probe into the Moon - and study interplanetary space on the way.
Accomplishments
None. A loss of thrust 245 seconds after launch led to a premature engine shutdown. The spacecraft did not have enough momentum to escape Earth's gravity.
In Depth
This mission was the third failure in a row in Soviet attempts to send a Ye-1 lunar impact probe to the Moon.
The thrust level of the core engine of the R-7 booster dropped abruptly at T+245 seconds, leading eventually to premature engine cutoff. The payload never reached escape velocity.
Later investigation showed that a pressurized seal cooling in the hydrogen peroxide pump of the main engine had lost integrity in vacuum conditions. The malfunction caused the main turbine to cease working and thus led to engine failure.
Spacecraft
Launch Vehicle: 8K72 (no. B1-5)
Spacecraft Mass: About 794 pounds (360 kilograms) with upper stage
Spacecraft Instruments:
- three-component magnetometer
- two gas-discharge counters
- piezoelectric detector
- scintillation counter
- ion traps
Selected References
Siddiqi, Asif A. Deep Space Chronicle: A Chronology of Deep Space and Planetary Probes 1958-2000, NASA, 2002.
